The World’s Best Blood Knot

You’d expect him to have a trick or two up his sleeve. I saw this video he put on Facebook and immediately asked him if I could share it. Chris uses a toothpick to tie a blood knot perfectly in seconds. It’s a pretty sweet trick.

Chris’s hand tied leaders are available in fly shops or on his site. He has tapers for every ovation. Check them out HERE. Thanks for sharing Chris!

Honestly I’m somewhat of a knot fanatic. For decades I used the blood knot and found it effective constructing leaders, then I went to the double uni, which I found as effective. However, if I need a serious knot for larger game fish I now go to the j knot, which has won North American Fisherman’s knot wars over the blood knot. An early competition of blood wars found the double uni and blood knot both failing about the same time. I still use the uni to uni most of the time, however, the j knot is much easier to tie and really works to unite heavy lines.

I agree with your assessment of the J-knot. A testing engineering buddy and I would use a very sensitive tension machine he had at work (Southwest Research in San Antonio). The J-knot was easily the strongest. Also it’s easier to tie than some of the rest when tying on leaders.

My wife and I have been having a good giggle trying this., It;s not as easy to learn as it appears. Great tip though. Practise makes perfect ( I hope ). We have company coming over tonight and will turn it into a party game.

Do tell the details of this party game. You, sir, win the award from the most ingenuous way of mastering my “toothpick method!!” Btw, with practice, you’ll eventually be able to do it with your eyes closed.

I manage quite well without the toothpick trick. Just make the necessary turns then push the knot loose to open up a turn in the middle. Poke the ends through from opposite sides and tighten. I can do it as fast as the video demo with the toothpick and with shorter ends to cut off ..

I no longer do any guiding, expect for the few free trips I offer to kids every year. My taper generally equals out to 6 knots/leader, with a target goal of 1,800 leaders per week so that I can have 2 months a year to chase salmon and hunt. I definitely don’t have a 9-5 lifestyle for the other 10 months though.

Whe thing leaders you need to ensure the knot ends up at the exact spot so each section is the correct length. I’ve tried using the toothpick and find that it’s more difficult to ensure the knot is at the right point. I use a black sharpie to mark where the knot should go. How do you do it and how do you ensure the knot is at the right spot? Do you always use four turns? I thought the blood,knot was best with 5-7 turns?

When I sit down for the day, I usually plan out 200 of the same leader, so everything is cut prior. If you’re off 1/2 inch or so, for all intents and purposes, it won’t hurt the taper. The best way is to have everything precut and plan on tying more than 1 or 2 at a sitting. I never use 7 full turns. 4 is perfect for most weights and when I get to 6x and smaller, I go to 5.